My Raw Food Tacos....Yummish!

So honestly ladies, I thought going RAW would be a huge challenge for me, and I just knew I would give up within the first few days.  And to be real, I almost did after day 4. That's when I got sick. My body immediately began to detox from the shock of all the LIVE and HEALTHY foods replacing that processed junk! With all those toxins releasing, I was aching, coughing, snotting, sneezing, shaking and breaking (and bunch of other nasty things) for about 2 days.


It was a bunch of cold then hot...hot then cold. Shaking, shaking some more, Angry, angry, angry, GIVE ME A DONUT NOW, snappy oh so snappy, irritated, please stop w/the questions snappy, cough, cough, sneeze, ouch, and lots of yelling to Jamon "Babe I'm about to CRACK!!"

By day 7 of my RAW Food Journey, I thought I was going to die.... 

OK back on track..(whew glad thats over!)...

Anyway, because I have always always always failed at my other attempts at dieting, I just knew this was not going to last long. Like my girl Mela says, "I am truly a fat kid at heart and if the food isn't good, RAW or not, I am not eating it"  PERIOD.  So going into this, I had my reservations. I had all these preconceived notions and stereotypes about what vegans, vegetarians and raw foodies ate, unhealthy it had to be to not eat ANY meat (I mean come on, that's how the American diet obtains most of its protein). I just knew my eating taste was much too colorful for that type of thing. But I proved myself (and a bunch of others) wrong. Let me say it loudly:

I. WAS. WRONG. 

Now that I have committed to this, I can honestly say eating organic, whole, unprocessed, uncooked veggies, fruits, nuts, sprouts and grains is the best thing I have done! My love for food has reached a whole new level of Agape. LOL.

But seriously, I have never tasted food so vibrant, so succulent and just so delicious! My taste buds are doing back flips!

I am not completely RAW yet, but I now actually PREFER some of the RAW versions of dishes over the cooked. For example, I can never see myself living without my RAW food cereal, or my carrot/apple/beet juice, or my raw spaghetti, or most importantly, my Raw Food Tacos! (I even learned how to make a RAW Snicker! Can't wait to try that) 

The biggest thing that got me is they way I feel after eating this delicious food. I don't have to compromise my energy (no itis, lol). The food helps me have a clear mind, helps keep me in the best mood, and keeps me very productive. Its simply fuel. When I eat now, I finally fill that God is pleased with my relationship with food. 

Overall, I learned that living RAW is a complete lifestyle change. I had to change my entire relationship with food.  I had to change the way I look at food, change the ways and reasons I eat, change the way I grocery shop, and change the way I prepare it!

I learned that food should be nourishing (an aid to the functions of the body), energizing, vibrant, whole, pure, fulfilling, dazzling...and so much more.  My journey thus far has been an eye opening, life altering experience. And for Mela and I, this is truly what living LIMITLESS is all about...expanding the borders of our minds, our thoughts, our upbringing, and our ways...breaking out of those boxes!

**I must take a moment THANK my girl/best friend/life partner Mela for introducing me to this. Her spirit is amazing, so giving. She is always in the mood to pour out knowledge, wisdom and love...always learning new things, being open minded and not opposed to change, and in the process, sharing what she learns with others...I mean, this is the same girl that inspired me to go natural!**

SHOUT OUT to Mela! How 'bout a round of applause! Keep up the good work girl!

So, with that being said, I wanted to stop by and share a few Recipes with you all. The first being the famous Ta Ta Tacos!

Today would mark the third day in a row that I have made Raw Food Tacos for lunch. If you're my friend on Facebook I'm sure you see the pictures and ingredients all over my page.

Here are the ingredients and preparation instructions:

INGREDIENTS:

The meat

- 1 cup of Walnuts, or your favorite nut

- 1 teaspoon of cumin seasoning

- 1 teaspoon of coriander seasoning

- 1 teaspoon of chili powder (if you have it, not as necessary, just compliments the other flavors)

- 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (if you like spicy like me)

- 2 teaspoons Nama Shoyu (raw soy sauce) or regular Soy sauce

- 2 teaspoons of garlic powder (or 3 freshly chopped garlic cloves)

The Tacos

-1 to 2 heads of Romaine lettuce

-1 to 2 chopped tomatoes

-1 avocado, mashed to make a guacamole

- 1/2 lemon or lime

- Diced onions (and i like to add shallots)

- A few pieces of cilantro

INSTRUCTIONS

1. I start with the meat portion. Chop walnuts as small and fine as you can get them. Once chopped, at your seasonings, 1 teaspoon of cumin, 1 tsp of coriander, 1 tsp garlic powder and 1 tsp of chili powder. Mix. Then add 2 tsp of soy sauce/Nama Shoyu. Mix.   *If you have a food processor or mixer (I use my Ninja) this is even easier. Mix all meat ingredients together and pulse for no more than 10 seconds

Now make your guacamole and salsa.

2. Mash avocado in a bowl and add a few squeezes of lemon or lime juice, diced shallots, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and a dash of sea salt. Mix well.

3. In a different bowl, place diced tomatoes, diced onions and chopped pieces of cilantro. Add a few squeezes of lemon juice, and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Mix.

4. Place fresh pieces of romaine lettuce on a plate and generously spread guacamole. 

*B/C I'm not much of a measurer when preparing foods, I like to season to taste, so here, I add a bit more of cumin and coriander seasoning. 

5. Next add your meat (the walnuts you mixed earlier). Spread generous amount.

6. Top off with your salsa, and a few more dashes of cayenne pepper (if you like it spicy like myself)

Prep time: 10 minutes 

And there you have deliciously RAW tacos. Try them, and I guarantee you will love them!

My Ta Ta Tacos or should I call them Rawco's? Hmmmm....lol

Check you later lovelies!

~ Sade

Our MINI Vacation!

*We are soooooooo late with this post*   Hmmm, you must forgive us ladies....

But anyway, Did you figure it out? DO you know where we ended up?

After driving leaving Tiburon we passed through Eureka. Knowing that there would be nothing at all exciting there, we came to a crossroad....this way or that way....? HMMM.

Mendocino or  Napa?

NAPA it is of course! 

We had a ball in the beautiful Napa valley...a town so serene and gorgeous, and right in our own backyard. We took in the sights and indulged in lots of the charm of the city. Delicious food, unbelievable wine and most of all cheap and sometimes even complimentary wine tasting!!!

We checked into the Wine Vally lodge (which was $39 a night, steal!!!), after using our phones to find an affordable place to stay.

Wine Valley Lodge

We started our fun the next morning with breakfast at the lodge and then off to Target to buy fresh clothing. (Remember this trip was totally spontaneous. We got on the road, and hadn't even packed). 

Target in Napa....so cute!

After looking over our complimentary tasting places on the map the Lodge provided, we ended up a wonderful Estate and Winery, the Caymus Vineyards in Calistoga.

Lovely it was, but we were a bit underdressed for the event they were having day, so it was a bit too ritzy for our relaxed moods. However, we did take advantage of the beautiful sites for pictures!

We're silly...check out our shadows! 

This guy who worked there was really excited to take a picture of us! He said he was a photographer, and we believe him. The pic turned out beautiful. Agree?

The Winery had a nice little clothing boutique, furniture store and knick knack store inside! It reminded us of a fancy Anthropologie. Right up our little allies! We were quietly ooooooh-ing and aghhhh-ing at every piece of furniture, clothing and art we saw! "This is what our store will look like," we kept saying!

Yes, she's a candle girl. *Sniff Sniff*

After a little window shopping, we decided to take a few pics of the place beautiful Caymus before leaving!

Later that afternoon, we headed to V. Sattui winery, which is now our favorite NAPA winery. The atmosphere is so relaxing, so "I'm vacationing but I'm home". We knew this place was more our scene. Plus V. Sattui is the only winery that has a lunch spot on site! 

 We had some really great food, and this day specifically, they hosted a family Bar-b-Que on the lawn with music and games! We had a ball.

Lunch time! We had pulled pork Bar-b-Que sandwich's (on homemade sweet bread), artichoke dip and chips.  For dessert we had a delicious tiramisu! Yummmmmmmmish!

                          

                Later we did a little shopping in downtown Napa...my favorite thing to do !

Then we headed to my new favorite shoe store, Footcandy! They had some really cute LOUBOUTINS here, and might I say I almost died with all the FASHION around me. They are a shoe store, but they also have very cute clothing in the back of the store.

They sold Herve Ledger, Alexander McQUEEN, Chloe, Derek Lam, Jason Wu, Valentino, Roberto Cavalli, YSL, and Carolina Herrara to name a few! I was in FASHION HEAVEN

All designer, all inexpensive! Going back is a MUST! 

 Don't mind the train track pics, at this point, we were feeling ourselves a bit...lol. They turned out really cute though. And later at dinner, a passer-by remembered our little 'photo shoot'...He said, "Hey omg you're the ladies that were doing a wonderful photo shoot on the train tracks! You ladies are wild"

So, we were celebrities in Napa!

As we ended our fun in Napa, we headed to a highly recommended Bar-b-Que and wine spot, called Bounty Hunters. They were so cool. They had live jazz, and amazing food and wine. We sat in the middle of the restaurant and had a good ole time, tourist style!

 And here is the delicious, scrumptious, slap yo mama good BBQ! We were in HEAVEN!! They served it family style, so Mela was able to share my Pulled Pork, and I indulged in her ribs. We had sweet cornbread and baked beans for sides. Not any old corn bread and baked beans either....Bounty Hunter style. Spicy and out of this world good!

We can never have enough dessert...or dessert wine for that matter!

We were enjoying the decadence!

 

   Of course we ended with just a little bit more Port...

We had a blast in Napa, and can't wait to go back to Bounty Hunter's. They had some really awesome food and entertainment.  Next time we go back to Bounty Hunters, we must get their famous Beer Chicken   

(we saw this at a table across from us)

And of course we must go back to V. Sattui Winery for a visit, and a few new places too!

I'd love to host a 'Natural Hair Meet Up' in Napa at Bounty Hunters!

Get it...? Napa/ Nappy?

Happy to be Nappy in Napa Meet up! 


It has a good ring to it!

LOL....IM SILLY......But seriously, it could be in the makings. I think that would so much fun for us Natural sista's to get together and have some fun in Napa...Let me know what you think girls. We could do it any time soon, the weather and wine in Napa is always good!

Check you later lovelies!

~Sade'
(Sha Sha Fierce...yes ma'am I am! LOL)